The Sickness
by Twilight684
Summary: Hiei gets sick with a rare disease that only affects full demons, and literally falls into the care of Yusuke. As Yusuke takes care of him he gets to see a side of the fire demon no one else has and it begins to make him question a few things.


**Ok so I realize I probably shouldn't be starting another story when I've been really busy lately and barely had the time to work on my other stories but yeah, an idea just popped into my head the other day so I decided to start writing and I really got into it. Anyways I really hope you guys like the first chapter :3**

Chapter 1

The Fever

Cold… It was so cold…but why was he feeling cold? The fire yokai never felt changes in temperature, and he never got hot or cold…so why now? The fact that it was mid-summer only made him wonder more, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Hiei shivered as his claws dug into the bark of the tree he was currently standing in, or at least _trying_ to stand in. The world was spinning around him, making his stomach churn and eyesight blur. _"What the hell is wrong with me?"_ he wondered, not knowing what to expect since he'd never felt this way before.

He let out a groan as nausea rolled through him, and he wanted to know what was wrong with him. He kept his claws dug into the bark as he sat himself down on the branch, leaning back and closing his eyes in hopes it would make him feel less nauseous if he couldn't see the world spinning around him…though it didn't really help seeing as how he felt as though everything were still moving around him; and that's how he ended up losing his balance and falling from the tree, fainting before he ever felt the impact of the ground that was racing up to meet him.

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><p>Yusuke let out an aggravated groan as he angrily kicked a can out of his path. He was so sick and tired of the same old crap with Keiko, and it was starting to get to him more than usual; not only was she still bossing him around a lot, but now she was practically suffocating him with her presence! The girl never left him the hell alone, and that would be ok if she weren't so annoying and would get it through her thick skull that he meant what he said when he'd told her he loved her but wasn't <strong>in<strong> love with her.

"You'd think she was smart enough to understand the difference," he mumbled darkly. He looked up when he heard what sounded like thunder and glared up at the heavens as he noticed the clouds getting darker and closer together. "Really? As if my day didn't suck enough as it was with Keiko dragging me through the mall all day to watch her try on clothes and carry crap for her for hours on end, now you gotta rain on me too?" he shouted angrily, a sprinkle of water landing on his cheek as if in reply.

"Yeah yeah, keep laughin' why don't ya?" he growled as he hurried on his way, deciding to cut through the forest so he could hopefully make it home before it started pouring like that one little drop seemed to promise.

He sighed when another clap of thunder rolled overhead and another small drop of water landed on his face. "Eh, who am I kiddin'? A little rain won't kill me, especially in this heat… Wish it would hurry up and really start fallin' though," he mumbled as he held his hands out in front of him when he noticed a few more drops falling in front of him.

He frowned when it didn't seem as though it were going to rain after all and was about to put his arms down when something, make that **someone**, suddenly fell out of the sky and right into said arms.

"Holy shit, it's raining people!" he exclaimed in shock. He blinked a few times in surprise when he finally seemed to realize the person he was holding in his arms was none other than his favorite little fire demon. "Whoa, Hiei! Where the hell did you come from?" he asked, wondering if something like this happened to whoever wrote the song It's Raining Men.

He furrowed his brows after a moment when Hiei didn't reply, not even to insult him and demand to be put down, and he realized Hiei was hotter than normal and his breathing was shallow and uneven; and the fact that he also seemed to be unconscious didn't help the rising panic Yusuke suddenly felt for his friend.

"_Crap, he's not lookin' too good. Oh shit, and the fact that it's about to rain won't help him any either!"_ Yusuke thought worriedly as he held Hiei close and took off towards his house as fast as he could. He let out a sigh of relief upon making it home, closing the door before the sky finally opened up and attempted to drown whoever was still outside.

He quickly took Hiei upstairs to his room and laid him down on the bed before the demon finally opened his eyes. Yusuke took this as a good sign and let out a sigh of relief, hoping Hiei would yell at him for bringing him to his house and say he was fine and Yusuke was an idiot.

"…Where am I?" Hiei asked weakly, his voice barely a whisper.

Yusuke frowned, his relief soon replaced with worry once more. "My house. Heh, you kinda fell outta nowhere and you didn't look too good so I brought you here before it started raining."

Hiei looked confused, almost as though he hadn't really understood what Yusuke had just said, and turned his face away from him. The boy blinked upon noticing how flushed Hiei's cheeks were, and he brought his hand to the demon's forhead. He quickly withdrew his hand, hissing in pain when the touch burned, and furrowed his brows when Hiei started shivering almost violently.

"Jesus Hiei, are you ok?" he asked, not sure if he should touch the demon again or not.

"I'm j-just really c-cold…" he mumbled, his teeth starting to chatter.

Yusuke gave him an odd look, "Uh, dude… You're so freaking hot you burned my hand just by me touching you! I'm glad I couldn't really feel it as bad through your clothes otherwise I don't think I ever would've gotten you here."

Hiei didn't reply as he curled himself into a ball, and it killed Yusuke to see the demon so weak and vulnerable looking. "H-Hang on. I'll be right back ok?" Yusuke said, frowning when Hiei's breathing started to become uneven once again.

The boy quickly ran downstairs and grabbed the phone, dialing Kurama's number as he ran into the kitchen and got Hiei some water. "Come on fox-boy! Pick up the damn phone!" Yusuke shouted impatiently.

"Yes, Yusuke?" Kurama asked suddenly.

"Finally! Dude I got problems over here!"

"I believe we've discussed this before at one point, and you told me-"

"NOT LIKE THAT! Hiei's here and he looks really bad."

"What happened to Hiei?" Kurama asked worriedly.

"He says he's freezing but he's so hot he burned my hand when I tried to feel his forehead, and his breathing's all weird like he isn't gettin' enough oxygen or somethin'."

"Well that's odd… You need to check his temperature immediately, because it sounds like he's running a fever."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "No shit! You think I didn't think of that already? I just needed to know if human medicine will work on him since he's a demon."

"You don't understand, Yusuke. If Hiei really does have a fever there's no medicine that can help him. Demons don't get sick and have no need for medicine and because our bodies are so different, medicine in the human world doesn't help us. If a demon does actually get sick it means they've been exposed to Allucinazioneitus, which is impossible because the last demon who had it was quarantined and died centuries ago."

"Uh… Ally what now?"

Kurama sighed, "Allucinazioneitus. An extremely contagious and deadly disease that causes extremely high fever, fatigue, hallucinations, respiratory difficulties, seizures and sometimes even bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth or ears, and that's just to name a few symptoms I can remember; and it is deadly. Rarely has anyone ever been able to break the fever before it kills them. Mostly because once the symptoms start others are too terrified to go near them and help them…though I can't say I blame them."

"Whoa whoa whoa! So you mean I'm gonna get sick like him too? And what about my mom whenever she comes over to visit me?" Yusuke asked frantically.

"No. You're a half demon, Yusuke. Humans can't get Allucinazioneitus, only demons. So the demons who are half human are unable to contract the disease. Now I suggest you check Hiei and try and get his fever down if he does indeed have one. A fire yokai's normal internal body temperature is a hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit, a small fever for them would be a hundred and eighteen degrees, and anything over a hundred and twenty degrees is extremely dangerous."

"Crap, ok… So I should like use ice and stuff to get his fever down right?"

"Precisely. Please call me back if his condition improves…"

Yusuke's heart clenched painfully when he caught the 'if' in Kurama's statement.

"I would come over and help you take care of him since I'm now part human, but you must understand I was around when the disease was still around and I saw the damage it did up close…" Kurama said guiltily.

"Hey it's ok, I get it and I'm sure Hiei would too. Anyways I gotta go now so I can help him out. Thanks Kurama," Yusuke said, hanging up the phone as he grabbed a thermometer and made his way upstairs.

He ran over to the demon when he saw how much worse he looked since he'd left him and he ignored the burning pain as he pulled Hiei's face around to look at him. "Hiei, I know this is gonna sound weird but I need you to open your mouth for me so I can take your temperature ok? Hiei?"

The demon pulled his face out of Yusuke's grip and turned away. Yusuke grabbed him once more and forced him to face him, "St-Stop! You're t-too cold!" Hiei practically whimpered as he pushed on Yusuke's chest in an attempt to get him away.

Yusuke took the opportunity to place the thermometer under Hiei's tongue while his mouth was open, and he had to hold the demon's hands to keep him from removing it. When it finally beeped Yusuke removed it and his mouth dropped open in shock when it read 127°F.

"Holy fucking shit dude!" he exclaimed as he ran back downstairs and filled up several buckets of ice and took them back upstairs with him. He knew Hiei was going to hate him for this at the moment, but it would help to get his fever down and that was all that mattered.

He didn't want to have to resort to the ice yet so he sat the buckets down and took the water over to Hiei, sliding an arm around him and helping him sit up. He winced as some of his skin came into contact with Hiei's bare flesh, but tried his hardest to ignore his own discomfort so he could help his friend.

He tilted Hiei's head back and brought the glass to his lips, "Come on Hiei, you gotta drink this. We gotta get your fever down."

Hiei growled weakly and turned his head away, Yusuke angrily grabbing him and forcing some of the liquid down the demon's throat. He jerked in shock and pain when Hiei's claws slashed four deep gashes into his arm, and he accidentally spilled some of the water onto the fire yokai, who reacted to it as though it were acid or something of the like.

Yusuke winced as he held his bleeding arm, looking around for the demon who'd suddenly disappeared from his grip. He noticed him sitting in a far corner of the room, fangs bared and growling in warning as Yusuke watched him.

The boy was confused as to why Hiei had suddenly freaked out on him when he only wanted to help and he took a step forward, stopping dead in his tracks when Hiei let out an animalistic snarl at his movements. "Whoa Hiei, it's just me! I just wanna help, I'm not trying to piss you off or anything."

Hiei panted heavily, his face contorted with pain as he tried to concentrate on what was being said. A part of him was trying to tell him that the person he was with wasn't a threat to him, but the sickness was messing with his mind and confusing him.

Yusuke took the opportunity to take the buckets of ice into his bathroom and dump them all in the tub while Hiei was distracted with something and paying no attention to him. He then quickly grabbed the demon from behind and dragged him into the bathroom, but the sudden touch caused Hiei to react violently and lash out with his claws and fangs; though luckily Yusuke was watching him closely and able to keep from obtaining any more injuries.

Hiei kept struggling against his captor, but for some reason he couldn't get away or hurt whoever was holding him. The demon snarled again as Yusuke managed to get Hiei's hands behind his back and hold them in place as he pulled him over to the tub of ice.

Yusuke was getting more worried as Hiei struggled, knowing it would cause his temperature to rise even more when it needed to go down. He also knew the ice wouldn't do Hiei much good unless it made direct contact to his body so that it would work quickly, and he forced the fire yokai up against the wall so he could remove his shirt, using it to keep Hiei's hands tied so he could let go of his arms.

Hiei's body tensed, his teeth clenched as the cool air hit his bare chest, and he stopped struggling with Yusuke for a moment. Yusuke let out a sigh of relief now that the demon was more calm and wondered if maybe he would cooperate with him some now, it would definitely make it less awkward with getting Hiei undressed, especially since it was making him wonder about that certain problem he talked to Kurama about; and it was just really sad that Yusuke was having thoughts like that now considering the situation.

He shook the thoughts away almost as immediately as they appeared and glared at nothing in particular, _"Pull yourself together man! One of your good friends is here and possibly dying and you're having another one of your stupid moments? You pretty much decided on this problem anyways, but if you seriously have to think on it again at least do it later when your friend isn't dying!"_ he thought angrily to himself.

Hiei suddenly wavered in the boy's arms, his head spinning as he calmed down and tried to find his bearings, remembering the last spot he'd been was up in a tree in the forest. He had no idea where he was now, or why his arms were tied behind his back, and he still felt so horrible he didn't care where he was at the moment; he just wanted to lay down before he fell over.

Yusuke arched a brow when Hiei suddenly leaned back against him and rested his head against his shoulder. Maybe this was a good sign that Hiei was starting to feel a little better finally, though the way Hiei's face remained flushed and his body still shook said otherwise.

Yusuke felt bad about keeping Hiei's arms bound behind his back when he was obviously much more calm and he still felt like shit, so he turned Hiei around and placed his back against the wall, flinching guiltily when Hiei hissed from the sudden cold against his skin.

The boy lifted Hiei's chin so he could look him in the eyes and he noticed the demon's eyes were still clouded over and unfocused, "Hiei? Are you with me buddy? I just wanna know you won't attack me if I untie you."

The fire yokai blinked in confusion upon hearing the familiar voice, and he tried to say something only to find his voice wouldn't work for him. He was sure the person in front of him had said something about untying his hands as long as he didn't attack them, not like he felt up to doing that at the moment anyway, and he nodded slowly. He groaned as the movement caused his stomach to churn, the world spinning faster as he waited to be untied.

Yusuke couldn't help but notice how sick Hiei suddenly looked, so he helped to hold him upright as he removed the shirt from Hiei's arms so he had use of them once again. He watched Hiei suspiciously when he pushed himself off of the wall and began to stumble back into Yusuke's room and the boy quickly grabbed him and pulled him back into his grip. "Oh no you don't! You're not allowed to leave until I get that fever of yours to break, so why don't you help me out by tossing your pants so I can get you cooled off some?"

Hiei tried to jerk out of the boy's grip, not liking the idea of getting any colder than what he already felt, and let out a weak growl when he couldn't escape. "Let go…"

"Look I just wanna help, so we can either do this the easy way or the hard way; but either way you're getting cooled off."

Hiei jerked again, getting himself partially out of Yusuke's grip before the boy pulled him back once again. _"Oh to hell with this! At least his shirt's off so that should help a lot,"_ he thought before he dragged Hiei over to the tub of ice and pushed him into it, blinking in shock when the demon grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him into the tub with him.

Hiei gasped loudly as the ice hit his bare flesh and his body tensed up, his arms wrapping tightly around Yusuke's back as his legs clamped around the boy's hips. It was so cold now he was practically seeing stars, and though he wanted to move his body wouldn't obey him, so he was stuck as he was.

Yusuke blushed a dark shade of red as the demon clung onto him and he found himself wondering about his certain problem once more. _"Dammit, I really need to talk to Kurama as soon as I get Hiei taken care of. Geez, he's shaking even worse now… I hope this helps him soon so he can get some rest,"_ he thought sadly.

Yusuke blinked in surprise when he realized the ice in the tub was melting at a pretty rapid pace, and he hoped he wouldn't have to go and get more. Hiei was going to hate him enough as it was already, but if he had to go and get more ice and torture the poor guy any longer it wasn't going to be good when Hiei finally got better.

Yusuke himself was getting rather cold from the ice, but him being in the tub on top of Hiei seemed to be the only thing that was keeping the demon still. He wrapped his arms around the fire yokai's waist and felt that there was already a rather large amount of ice cold water that was beginning to fill up the tub, and it must've been working because it no longer burned for Yusuke to touch the demon's skin directly.

He cupped a hand in the water and brought some of it up to Hiei's face, sprinkling a bit on his cheeks and rubbing some on the back of his neck. After several minutes he noticed Hiei finally stop shivering and the ice stopped melting so fast, and he smiled when he noticed the flush was leaving Hiei's cheeks and his breathing was beginning to return to normal.

He waited a few more minutes before he pushed himself off of Hiei and stepped out of the tub, glad his clothes hadn't gotten too soaked since he hadn't been directly in the water like Hiei was, and quickly ran to his room to fetch the thermometer.

He was a little worried when he made his way back into the bathroom and found that Hiei hadn't moved an inch, but from the looks of the demon's steady breathing he'd fallen asleep. Yusuke made his way over to Hiei and placed an arm behind his back so he could sit the demon up and take his temperature.

He waited impatiently, fidgeting nervously as the thing took it's sweet time telling him what he wanted to know, and he held his breath when it finally beeped. He let out a happy sigh in relief when it read 115.7°F, and sat the thermometer down so he could pick Hiei up and dry him off.

He blushed a bit when he removed Hiei's drenched pants and tried not to think about the fact that Hiei was practically naked in his arms as he carried him back into his room and laid him on the bed. He wasn't sure if he should cover him up or not seeing as how his fever had just broken not too long ago and Yusuke really didn't want to risk Hiei's temperature going up so dangerously high again.

Once Yusuke had the demon settled he moved away to go get the phone and call Kurama, but he was stopped when his arm was suddenly grabbed. He quickly turned to see Hiei looking at him, his eyes still a little clouded over, and Yusuke brought a hand to his forehead wondering if he'd taken his friend out of the ice bath too soon.

He furrowed his brows when he noticed Hiei still felt fine and he was about to ask if he needed him to get him anything when he was shocked into silence by Hiei nuzzling his hand. He cleared his throat and took his hand back from Hiei's forehead, surprised by the sad look that crossed Hiei's face. "Uh… D-Do you want some water?" he asked.

Hiei shook his head slowly as Yusuke started to move out of his grip, "Well I'll get you some anyways. I'll be back in a minute, I gotta go-"

"No," Hiei cut him off.

"Eh? No, what?" Yusuke asked confused.

"…Don't go..." Hiei muttered.

Yusuke felt his heart begin to race, "Eh? But I'll only be gone for a couple of minutes. I just have to call Kurama and tell him you're ok. _Among other things,_" Yusuke said, finishing that last part in his mind.

Hiei's grip tightened around Yusuke's arm, "Don't leave…please…" he said, a pleading tone in his voice.

Yusuke was utterly shocked, not knowing if he'd heard the demon correctly. "Hiei…" he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"…Please don't leave me…" he begged, nuzzling against the arm he still had in his grasp.

Yusuke couldn't help but smile at the fire yokai; he'd never seen Hiei act so cute before. _"Cute? Hiei? Cute?"_ he panicked internally.

He tried to calm himself down as he shook the thought away and sat down on the bed next to Hiei, "Ok...I won't leave. So get some rest ok?"

He felt his cheeks heat up even more as Hiei jerked him down and cuddled close to him, wrapping Yusuke's arms around his waist as he did so. It was just so weird to see Hiei acting like this when his fever was gone, and especially seeing as how if anyone had told him Hiei could be adorable like this he'd have thought they'd knocked a screw loose or something.

He felt his stomach flutter when he realized he was still thinking of Hiei as being cute, and he supposed he shouldn't be freaking out about it so badly when it was true. He finally gave in and secured his arms into place around the little fire yokai's waist and pulled him close to his chest, no longer caring that he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Kurama again. _"I'll just talk to fox-boy tomorrow, I mean it won't kill him for me to give him an update on Hiei tomorrow… Besides I am pretty tired myself, and Hiei's really comfortable,"_ he smiled to himself as he nuzzled the demon's neck.

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><p><strong>Well there you go guys, I hope everyone didn't seem too OOC, especially Hiei, but remember he is sick at the moment so yeah. Don't know when I'll be able to update but hopefully I can come up with something sometime soon.<strong>


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